minnesota week 2: lake holcombe, date night, sibling reunion

 sunday, july 14th we awoke to crazy storm damage from the night before. my mom's patio furniture and potted plants were flung around, which wasn't a big deal compared to some people in the neighborhood. lots of downed trees, powerlines, and smashed cars.

 in the late morning, we met up with our friends becky, jeromy, and their daughters at 'can can wonderland.' my mom took us there last year for the first time and we all loved it. we made sure to do the mini golf as well this time. it was so nice to see their family, we miss them so much when we are in seattle.

 in the afternoon it was in the 90s and super steamy, but we spent a long time outside watching a tree get lifted off a house and hanging out with the neighbors. we had dinner at my mom's. thatcher and i went for a walk around lake harriet once it cooled down a bit. 

monday, july 15th we spent a good chunk of the day getting ready for our airbnb cabin in wisconsin. anders, nith, and moss went up there on sunday and we planned to join them on tuesday for the second two nights. in the evening, thatcher and the kids went to his parents' for dinner and my college roommate sarah met me at my mom's house and then we went out for dinner together. we walked to the new 'nico's taco bar' in my mom's neighborhood. it was delicious and the patio was so pretty. then we went across the street to 'terzo' wine bar, which i had never been to and it was also great. it was so nice to catch up with her! our other roommates live farther away, so i don't get to see them as often. 

tuesday, july 16th - thursday, july 18th we packed up the car in the morning and headed out to the airbnb lake cabin that anders and nith rented and invited us to join. it was on lake holcombe in wisconsin. we also brought our nephew jack along with us. it was a beautiful spot to hang out for a couple days. we had lunch when we got there and then spent the rest of the day fishing, following moss around, and relaxing.

 for dinner we made greek chicken gyros on the grill. we also made a fire and did smores. there was a beautiful sunset to end the day. 

wednesday was a little bit cool and windy so we spent most of the day in the cabin, with a little time spent fishing. 

in the late afternoon, all of us went to check out a nearby sandy beach. it wasn't really warm enough to swim, but the kids waded in the water and played in the sand. 

we grilled burgers for dinner and had another fire (with smores of course!). it turned out to be a lovely evening outside. 

thursday morning we packed up, cleaned the cabin, and headed back to minneapolis. in the evening we went to see my brother's baseball game. he plays on multiple adult leagues, but we hadn't seen him play in a couple years. it was really fun and they won their game. 

friday, july 19th in the morning i took azalea to go see my childhood friend caylie and her kids at their new house in richfield. i had not yet met her 3 year old daughter, so that was fun. it was nice to see them and catch up. at lunch time thatcher and the kids dropped me off at 'good earth' at the galleria to have lunch with my friend diana. we had a short, but nice catch up. thatcher needed to get the oil changed in the car before his drive back, so i killed some time at target nearby, in the evening, thatcher and i got to have a date night! a couple months ago he saw that a band we both liked in the early 2000s (him especially) called mates of state was having a show at the turf club in st. paul, so we bought tickets. we started the night having dinner and taking a walk through st. anthony park in st. paul. then we went to the show. it was such a fun concert for both of us. i'm so glad we went! 

saturday, june 20th we had plans to meet up with our friends nate, missy, and their kids to do mini golf at the minneapolis sculpture garden. we had been wanting to go there for years. but unfortunately we found out after arriving that you have to make a reservation and it was booked all the way until 8:30 pm. oops! so we walked around the sculpture garden for a little before trying to decide what we should do instead. 

we settled on the 'bakken museum' which thatcher and i hadn't been to since azalea was a baby. it's a really cool museum. i remembered that we took a picture of thatcher with tiny baby azalea in the gardens there, so i had the idea to recreate the picture and it came out so cute. we all got a good laugh :)

 later in the afternoon we headed to thatcher's parents house because his sister cedar and her family had arrived from zambia. we have been looking forward to everyone being in the same place at the same time and for the little cousins to meet. we all had burgers for dinner and then took a family picture thanks to the self-timer. who knows when everyone will be in the same place at the same time again. 

so that's week 2. one more week to come!